Energy services company EnerQuip said it expects a 50 per cent increase in turnover for 2018, boosted by sustained growth in activity in its Middle East markets

The company, which makes torque machines, said drilling activity across the region would be a top priority and that OPEC’s production cuts had not hurt its business to date.

“However it could be some time until the effects of this are felt further down the supply chain,” EnerQuip’s managing director Dave Clark told Oil Review Middle East.

OPEC and other non-OPEC countries such as Russia began to cut oil production in 2017 to weather the impact of low oil prices.

EnerQuip earned nearly a third of its total revenue last year from the Middle East, up from 12 per cent in 2016, on the back of brisk drilling activity in the region.

The majority of the company’s projects in 2017 were in Dubai and Saudi Arabia, with operations also in Oman, Kuwait and Qatar.

Clark said that Saudi Arabia and Qatar both had new projects coming online this year.

“For example, Saudi Aramco is looking at exploiting new onshore reserves, such as the Jafurah basin, which is similar in size to Texas’ Eagle Ford shale play. This will open up a world of opportunities for the supply chain,” he said.

Clark said that there was no sign that the region‘s drilling activity was slowing down anytime soon and that the company was looking to leverage existing client relationships to grow its presence in the region.

He further added that companies are starting to increase investment in their ageing assets. “It will be interesting to see if this continues as the oil price continues to creep up,” he commented.